‘Dark arts’ and betrayal: one week in the Tory leadership race

Battle to be in final two has been beset by mud-slinging as frontrunners bid to pick off supporters from rivals

What happens when the most duplicitous, lying electorate that you've ever come across" holds an internal contest via secret ballots covered breathlessly by the media with the fate of the country at stake?

That description of the race to become prime minister by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith goes some way to explaining why there has been a torrent of blue-on-blue attacks, dark arts" and betrayal of long-held loyalties over the past week.